PARIS, Oct 24 — French ministers have raised the idea of charging tourists to enter Paris’ world-famous Notre-Dame cathedral when it opens in December after a five-year restoration.
“Across Europe, people have to pay to get into the most remarkable religious buildings,” Culture Minister Rachida Dati told conservative daily Le Figaro in an interview published late Wednesday.
She said she had suggested “a symbolic charge for all tourist visits to Notre-Dame with the money totally dedicated to a major plan for conserving religious heritage” in a conversation with Paris’ Catholic archbishop.
Gutted by a fire in 2019, Notre-Dame is set to reopen on December 7 after a vast reconstruction effort.
A five-euro-per-person charge would bring in around 75 million euros (RM351 million) a year, Dati estimated.
“That way, Notre-Dame would be saving every church in Paris and in France. It would be a magnificent symbol,” she added.
Dati was backed up by her conservative colleague Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who recalled paying five euros to visit the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona.
Charging would be worth it “if for five euros we can save religious heritage that people may cherish whether they believe or not... it’s just part of the French landscape,” Retailleau told broadcaster France Inter.
Dati also suggested charging visitors from outside the European Union more to visit French national monuments and museums “to finance renovating our national heritage”.
“The French public shouldn’t have to pay for everything by themselves,” she added.
France was the world’s most visited country in 2023, according to the UN’s World Tourism Organisation, with around 100 million arrivals -- beating out Spain, the US, Italy, and Turkey in the top five. — AFP
